Hero and Leander is a myth relating the story of Hērō (Greek: Ἡρώ, pron. hay-rō (ancient) and like "hero" in English), a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Dardanelles, and Leander (Greek: Λέανδρος, Léandros), a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
Succumbing to Leander's soft words, and to his argument that Aphrodite, as goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to make love to her. This routine lasted through the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light, and Leander lost his way, and was drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.
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Famous quotes containing the word hero:
“While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy “Man”,
And its hero the Conqueror Worm.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)